FRÖBEL e.V. Advisory Board

Until 2010 Wolfgang Penkert was Head of the Youth and Family Department at the State Youth Director (Berlin Senate Administration for Education, Science and Research) with responsibilities that included the introduction of the Berlin “Kita” day-care voucher system in 1999.

Prof. Dr. Gesa Birnkraut studied public sector management and culture management. Her doctoral thesis was entitled "Voluntary posts in cultural institutions: a comparison of USA and Germany". She is Professor of Strategic Management in the Non-Profit Sector at Osnabrück University and is managing partner in the culture management consultancy BIRNKRAUT|PARTNER and Chair of Board of the Institut für Kulturkonzepte Hamburg e.V..

Prof. Dr. Haderlein is Professor of Social Sciences at Koblenz University, Chairman of the Board of the Institut für Bildung, Erziehung und Betreuung (IBEB) and member of the Committee Institutional Accreditation of the German Council of Science and Humanities. His teaching and research include in particular management of public sector and social institutions and personnel, quality and organisational development.

Prof. Dr. jur. Dr. rer. pol. Rudolf Hammerschmidt was until 2014 Chair of the Board of the "Bank für Sozialwirtschaft". Alongside his work at the bank he worked as a lecturer for many years and was appointed Professor of Banking Operations in 2001. He continues to work on a voluntary basis as an evaluator of study programs for the accreditation institute FIBAA. He continues to be closely associated with the social economy through his many years of working at the Bank für Sozialwirtschaft and prior to that for the German Red Cross.

Norbert Kunz is one of the most successful social entrepreneurs in Germany. For more than twenty years, he has been advising and supporting entrepreneurs and co-founded various organisations in the development of social innovations. For several years now, the managing director of not-for-profit Social Impact GmbH has been concentrating on building an infrastructure for social innovation and supporting social start-ups. The founding of the first Social Impact Lab in Berlin in 2011 together with the first Business Incubation Program for Social Startups in Germany was the beginning of this. In the meantime there are social impactact labs all over Germany, with a large number of start-up support programs running.
Norbert Kunz has been recognised as an Ashoka Fellow, the Schwab Foundation as a Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2010, and the Sustainable Entrepreneurship Award. He is a member of the board of directors and a member of numerous associations and institutes, such as the European Commission's expert commission on the Social Business Initiative (GECES).

Gudrun Kern is the Managing Director and Educational Director of the Austrian kindergarten and after-school care provider KINDER IN WIEN (KIWI). Kern holds a degree in education and used to lecture at the University of Vienna. Prior to that, she worked as an elementary teacher. At KINDER IN WIEN, she has been working across different fields of education since 2014. Her main areas of expertise are quality development and assurance, the ethical dimensions of education theory and practice, and the social significance of elementary education providers.

Dr. Peter Rösner is the Head of the School at the Louisenlund Foundation. Prior to that he was Chair of the Board of the Little Scientists’ House foundation. After studying mathematics and physics he gained a doctorate at the University of Göttingen in experimental physics.

Dr. Robert Sauter holds a degree in education and until his retirement in 2010 was Head of the Bavarian State Youth Administration at the Family and Social Centre Bavaria, latterly also Chair of the Federal Association of State Youth Administrations. His professional career spans practically all aspects of child and youth welfare.

Professor Wolfgang Tietze teaches and researches at the Free University of Berlin in Education Science and Psychology, focusing on Early Years Education. He is at the same time Managing Director of PädQUIS gGmbH. His research relates to the recording, assuring and further development of quality in child day-care institutions.

Mirja Wolfs is the Managing Director of “Zweckverband Katholische Tageseinrichtungen für Kinder im Bistum Essen” (association of catholic childcare centres in the diocese of Essen). Her key responsibility lies in education.
Since 2011, she has been working across various fields at Zweckverband, including HR, Finance and Real Estate, and was acting Managing Director. Before joining the association, the education graduate held several management positions, including Assistant Head of Diversity and Inclusion at the Düsseldorf-based company Henkel AG & Co., and at the German Federal Employment Agency.
Mirja Wolfs is also part of various committees, including deputy chairwoman of the Federal Association of Catholic Day Care Facilities (KTK) and a board member of the Johannes Kessel Academy.

As program manager, Sabine Uehlein is responsible for the contents of the Stiftung Lesen. She studied German philology, journalism and book sciences at the Universities of Erlangen and Mainz and completed her studies in 1994 as a Master's Artium. Since 1995, she has worked in different positions at the Stiftung Lesen, first in the school department, then in the entire program, and was appointed to the management by the board of the Stiftung Lesen 2010. The focus of her work is on the development and realization of programs for read-only target groups such as the federal programs LESESTART and LESECLUBS as well as joint actions with partners. As a member of committees and advisory boards and as a consultant for governmental and non-governmental organisations nationally and internationally, Sabine Uehlein accompanies her long-term expertise in promoting strategy and implementation. She is lecturer at the Hochschule der Medien in Stuttgart.

Peter Zühlsdorff is an entrepreneur and consultant holding a wide range of posts. His professional career includes eight years as managing partner of TONDEO GmbH; he was for 17 years on the Board of Wella AG, and Chair of the Board for the last 5 years of these. From 1998 to 2003 he was Managing Director of the Holding Group of Tengelmann Group. Since 1997 he has been Managing Director of DIH Deutsche Industrie-Holding GmbH.